"Why is our boss so desperate to find this Anonymous guy? I just don’t get it," Ryuken said as he sat on a nearby chair, drinking. It had been nearly 30 minutes since they started searching, but to no avail.
Their method was to use an illegal app created by Emma to scan the Auction Rooms and find out the identity of whoever was inside.
"Someone like you will never understand. The classes created by this guy are beyond what we usually get. Just look at me and Vega, our damage output is now easily twice or even three times what it was before," Oscar explained as he took a bite of his sandwich.
"Sigh... but at this rate, it seems we won’t find him anytime soon. He must have realized that people are searching for him and decided to lay low for a while," Denis said.
"Alright! Enough resting. Let’s quickly find this guy and get back home. I need to hit the gym after this." Ryuken stood up and started walking, followed by a lazy Oscar and Denis, who was calling the other members for updates.
Dungeon Plaza, District 19
"Hello, my name is Melissa."
"My name is Gina. Nice to meet you. I hope we can work well together."
Two women greeted Lars. Melissa had blonde hair, while Gina had dark blue hair. Both of them were members of Max’s party.
"My name is Lars. Nice to meet you too." Lars bowed slightly.
"Alright. Before we enter the dungeon, we should tell each other our classes and roles so it will be easier during battle. I will start first. My class is Sword Knight, and I’m a frontliner," Max explained.
Melissa was a Zephyr Mage who stayed at the rear, while Gina was a Battle Warden who acted as the tanker.
Then, all three pairs of eyes turned toward Lars.
"I am... err..." Lars scratched his head. He didn’t know how to explain his class to them. If he said he was both an archer and a healer, they would surely think he was joking. No one had ever heard of such a thing before.
He raised the bow in his hand.
"I am... an archer," Lars said.
"Good. Now we have two rear fighters and two frontliners. That’s a suitable formation to clear this dungeon," Max said.
As they prepared to enter the dungeon, Lars moved closer to Max and whispered.
"Hey, these two girls... is this your first time partying with them? Because of all that introduction stuff."
"Hmm? Yeah, that’s right. Why do you ask?" Max replied.
"No. I thought the three of you were actually in the same company. That’s why."
"Ahh... I see. Actually, I’m not in any company. I prefer to move solo, to be honest. But you know, it’s very hard nowadays to survive as a freelancer. So, I’ve been thinking that maybe one day I will join a company," Max said.
"Is that so?" Lars said. He had never realized that being a hunter wasn’t as lucrative as he thought. The reason he was having a slightly better life right now was because of his Primordial class. If he didn’t have this class, he would surely be struggling.
He then looked at Max as he pulled out his weapon, a sword. It was clear that the sword had been used for a long time, judging by its chipped edges.
"Max, how long have you been a hunter?" Lars asked.
"Ermm... around four years now. I became a hunter right after we finished high school. Speaking of that, have you contacted any of our old friends?"
"No. I’ve lost contact with them," Lars said.
But the truth was, he didn’t want to meet their old group again. He wanted to forget his school memories. For most people, high school life was one of their best memories, but for Lars, it was the opposite.
He had been part of a bully group that always bullied weaker students. Max had been the same as him. That was how he got the name Lars the Bully. It was also one of the reasons why his stepfather despised him.
However, a tragedy happened one day during their school years that completely changed their lives for good, a tragedy that both of them wanted to forget.
"Alright, let’s go, everyone!" Max led the way as they entered the dungeon portal. Their destination was the Swamp of Dead.
As soon as they entered the dungeon, they were welcomed by a dim, gloomy atmosphere. Dark silhouettes of trees surrounded them, while thick mist covered the area.
"Of all the dungeons, why did you pick this scary place?" Lars said as he looked around.
"What? Are you scared?" Max teased him.
"No, I am not!"
"Hehehe." Melissa and Gina chuckled at Lars.
Lars tried to hide his flushed face as he walked in front of them.
"Hey, stay in formation, Lars," Max said.
Suddenly, as Lars was walking, something moved, targeting him from above.
"Above you!" Gina shouted.
"Huh?" Lars looked up and saw a large tree branch falling toward him.
Thump!
The branch hit the ground. Luckily, there was no one underneath it.
"Watch your surroundings, man!" Max said as both of them lay on the ground. He had barely managed to save Lars at the last second.
"Sorry!"
Then, the surrounding trees started to move, revealing themselves as the monsters of this place.
Max raised his sword, together with Melissa and Gina. Lars stood up and wiped his pants before raising his bow and nocking an arrow.
"Are you all ready? Let’s go!" Max then led the group together with Gina, while Melissa started chanting her spell.
BOOM!!
BOOM!!
A fierce battle began.
Even though Max and Gina were only partying together for the first time today, their chemistry was excellent. They took turns leading the battle while attracting the monsters’ attention. During that time, Melissa would cast powerful wind spells that cut the trees in half.
"Looks like I’m not really needed here," Lars muttered as he watched the three of them work perfectly together.
Suddenly, one of the tree monsters struck Gina squarely in the back while she was focused on the enemies in front of her. She was thrown forward and landed on the ground. Her hip started to bleed from the sharp branch.
"Gina!" Melissa shouted. But she, too, was occupied right now, together with Max.
A group of monsters started walking toward Gina, who was struggling to stand up as she clenched her teeth and raised her shield.
Zoooom!
Suddenly, the sound of an arrow echoed through the air as it flew past both Max and Melissa. The arrow immediately struck Gina in the hip, and suddenly, a yellow light covered her body. The wound on her hip immediately recovered.
"What was that?" Max was shocked. He then turned toward the source and saw Lars holding his bow.
But Lars was now frowning.
"The arrow is gone when I use this skill? I only bought 30 arrows!"